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Monday Thoughts 8.15.22
“You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy.”
Nightbirde
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”
Gail Sheehy
“Love yourself enough to create an environment in your life that is conducive to the nourishment of your personal growth. Allow yourself to let go of the people, thoughts and situations that poison your well-being. Cultivate a vibrant surrounding and commit yourself to making choices that will help you release the greatest expression of your unique beauty and purpose.”
Steve Mariboli
#8 The fundamental object of life is emotional and spiritual growth.
Daily I put my life into a proper order, knowing which are the priorities.
There is an acronym that I turn to whenever uncomfortable feelings arise…….
Choose Having A New Growth Experience= CHANGE
Choosing to have a new growth experience, can close the door to self-judgment and harsh thoughts because it is now an opportunity to learn and grow. If I were learning a new language, would I condemn myself for not understanding…no…I would be gentle and encouraging. Accepting this wasn’t easy in early sobriety; I had to drop the image of the “been there, done that” attitude and become open to change. Statement #8 leads the way.
Active addiction is a language we are unlearning, while sobriety and recovery are our updated and life-saving language. We are learning about cravings, triggers, and how to manage our days. We learn new coping mechanisms and create lasting connections. We are learning to let go of what hurts our well-being or is traumatic to ourselves. Statement #8 in action also lays a foundation for the future, whether it be next week, next year, or five years from now.
Life has ups and downs, that’s a fact. Yet, we have the ability to be our own cheerleaders and to help another when they feel down. We learn to accept that we can reach out at any time. Learning can have its ups and downs too; we may find ourselves on the fast track and expand in growth while at other times we may feel growth is standing still. By embracing where we are and putting action into Statement #8, we grow in mind and heart.
Hugzzz
Karen
Hi 4C Women,
Through my ups and downs, I must say how incredibly grateful I am for the WFS program that has changed my life in such positive ways, especially with emotional and spiritual growth. Years ago, going through the down times felt as though they would never end. I just knew my sad, angry, disappointing, rejected, negative feelings would last forever. At least that is how I felt. This past week I experienced one of those down times and part of what got me through was realizing that this was my authentic feeling and just acknowledging that helped me. I’m a big believer in acknowledging all of our feelings to accept them, learn from them and grow emotionally and spiritually as Statement #8 guides us.
I was also supported by other WFS women who assured me my feelings were valid. What a gift to have these “cheerleaders.” I needed to remember this down feeling is just a part of life and the lesson I learned from Statement #8 is that while real, it is temporary. What WFS has taught me is to explore where the feeling is coming from, which for me, is usually a feeling from the past that brings it to the present, i.e., feeling invisible, unheard. Rather than being stuck in that feeling, I consider addressing the person by speaking my voice in a calm, yet assertive voice. I saw a quote on Facebook that is a good reminder for me:
“Communication is one thing but your tone while communicating with someone is everything.”
This is one of the reasons, I no longer feel bad if I don’t address a situation immediately because if I respond in anger or frustration, I might not get my viewpoint across or be heard. This doesn’t mean that I never address a situation immediately. A lot depends on how I am feeling, the situation, and the person who is offending or demeaning me. All I’m saying is I no longer stay in the “why didn’t I say this then?” because I still have the power to do it when I choose.
Consider all the positive changes in recovery that the WFS Statements have given us from personal growth, learning new coping tools, peace, hope, spiritual journey, choices, and coping tools – the list is long and I know you can add your own personal changes. All of these changes help us put our priorities in order.
What are your priorities? Think of a priority as something that gives your life purpose, direction, and meaning.
How have your priorities changed as you’ve grown emotionally and spiritually?
How do you nurture yourself?
How do you define emotional growth in recovery?
Bonded in learning to let go of what hurts our well-being (Karen) and move forward in nurturing, respecting ourselves, speaking our voice, and knowing our priorities, Dee
Women for Sobriety is asking women who use the New Life Program to take our 2022 Member Survey! This survey is designed to help WFS understand your needs, experiences, and satisfaction with the New Life Program by asking these types of questions:
- About your substance use and its impact(s) on your life
- About your recovery and your use of the New Life Program
We want to assure you that your responses in this survey are completely anonymous, and cannot be traced back to the respondent. No personally identifiable information is captured. Additionally, your responses are combined with those of many others and summarized in a report to further protect your anonymity.
